Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Captain Midnight's Grapes?

So many memories tonight as I"m trying to catch up with blogs! The 2 that made big memories pop into my mind were Laura's grape arbor story and Libby's button box memory.

My grandfather always grew two long rows of grapes. We used to eat them, but they were the sour kind with seeds. But that never stopped us. And we always made wonderful jelly out of them. The big thing I remember is taking them to school and telling everyone that they were Grandpa Grown Grapes - ok, so simple things entertain you as a child! When I was older my dad transferred some of the vines to our house and they continued to grow in our garden. When I grew up and got married and built our own home I wanted to get some vines and continue to grow them in our yard. Well, before long I had 3 babies and time just flew away! I never got around to doing it. Now my grandfather's grapes are dug under a housing development and my dad's are also gone. But I still can taste them in my mind.

When my grandmother died (and isn't this strange - this is my Grandpa Grape Grandma) I got her old treadle sewing machine. When I got it I saw all her old sewing stuff was in the drawers. One whole drawer is nothing but buttons. I"ve never taken the things permanently out - I just feel they need to stay there for some reason. Anyway, many years later I was checking out all the buttons in the drawer and you know what I found?! My dad's old Captain Midnight's decoder! Since my dad is now gone also it was a really fun find. Can you believe that years decoder is currently selling for $40-$80! I found his year on ebay for $32 tonight just cause I was curious - and no not because I would sell it.

Thanks Laura and Libby for the memories!

5 comments from wonderful readers:

Tonya Ricucci said...

Was Captain Midnight a radio serial? I've never heard of this particular item, but I immediately thought of the decoder from Christmas Story (dont forget to drink your ovaltine).

That sounds perfect to leave all the items in the drawers of the treadle machine. Wonderful memories.

sewprimitive karen said...

Those decoders are such strong memories. I had various ring decoders, 50s era, not as old as Captain Midnight. So neat.

Libby said...

Oh the decoder is a treasure. I can just imagine the fun that was had decoding secrets with that. And summers playing under the arbor ... priceless memories.

ForestJane said...

I grew up eating home grown grapes too... :) The skins on ours were so thick you weren't able to chew them, and such huge seeds they had!

But we did have great grape juice and my parents had wine made from them.

Tazzie said...

So nice reading your post :-) I never saw one of those decoders before, what were they used for? Looks fascinating!
*hugs*
Tazzie
:-)